Answer: 9
Before Homo sapiens became the last surviving species of the human genus, there were at least nine different species of humans that roamed the Earth. This is something we often forget—or perhaps, never fully understood. We tend to think of humanity as a singular entity, but in reality, for most of our existence, multiple human species coexisted.
Among them were the famous Neanderthals (Homo neanderthalensis), who lived in Europe and western Asia. They were physically robust and well-adapted to the cold climates of the Ice Age. For many years, it was believed that they were primitive and unintelligent, but we now know they had their own cultures, used tools, and may even have had art and language.
There was also Homo erectus, the longest-surviving human species, who lived for nearly 2 million years—far longer than modern humans have been around. They spread across Africa and Asia, using fire and developing more complex tools than their predecessors.
In addition, there was Homo floresiensis, a diminutive human species that lived on the island of Flores in Indonesia, earning them the nickname “The Hobbit.” Despite their small stature, they were able to make stone tools and hunt animals much larger than themselves.
There were others too, like Homo heidelbergensis, Homo naledi, and Denisovans, a mysterious group identified only recently through DNA found in a Siberian cave. Each species had its own unique adaptations and ways of life, shaped by their environments and evolutionary paths.
The real question is, why did Homo sapiens prevail, while the others disappeared? It’s one of the great mysteries of history. Some theories suggest we may have outcompeted them, while others propose interbreeding—DNA evidence shows modern humans carry traces of Neanderthal and Denisovan genes. Another possibility is that we simply adapted better to the changing climate and were more flexible in our social structures and technologies.
Ultimately, our rise to dominance was not inevitable. For hundreds of thousands of years, Homo sapiens was just one species among many. Our triumph over the others was a combination of adaptability, cooperation, and perhaps, sheer luck. Today, we are the only human species left, but the fact that we once shared the planet with several other forms of humanity challenges the idea that our success was preordained. It forces us to rethink what it means to be human—and how fragile our place in the world truly is.
